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quinta-feira, 28 de fevereiro de 2013

"Világvége, Armageddon, Fin du monde, Weltuntergang, Apocalypse, Ragnarök... No matter the language or origin, the 'End of the World' has always been a huge theme of discord since men were born.

After illustrating the decadence of a Roman Emperor with HELIOGABALUS in 2010, RORCAL is back with a third album whose guideline just appeared to be obvious.

Like its source of inspiration, RORCAL music has no boundaries and VILAGVEGE is here to prove it. When Doom turns into Black, you can't expect anything but chaos: 8 tracks straight to the point, nervous and furious like never before.

I took knowledge of this release for quite some time, I pre-ordered it immediately and now I sit here impatiently for my vinyl of "VILAGVEGE" to crash, which i believe it can happen any day now, but the main reason i'm only putting this only today is because the album is already in its entirely on the band's Bandcamp available for your hearing.

With "VILAGVEGE", Rorcal lift up their black hoods and reveal their darkest facet. Imagine the biggest tragedy that could fall upon us and multiply it by 1000, still... you wouldn't get close to what "VILAGVEGE" sounds like. If this is the evilest face of Rorcal, man, i'm going back to their older stuff in order to find some peace.. really. You have no idea what to expect here. Simply, one of the best and most anticipated releases for this year. May we all go down in flames at the sound of "VILAGVEGE" for this is the soundtrack of the Apocalypse.

Like i said before on this blog about Rorcal, the band basically does it all, they have put some of their previous works that, like this new one, were forged with blood, sweat, tears and of course money. And still the band puts this up for free. So the only retribution you can do is supporting them. Spread the word. Buy the vinyl, tape, merch, Bandcamp donations, etc. But please... support this amazing band. We all love Rorcal don't we?

Ezkathon is a Danish one man metal band formed by Mads Tellerup Madsen, former Whorls guitarist. Mads started Ezkathon back in December 2010 as a grind-influenced black metal project, but with time it became more "atmospheric" influenced. And now it has solidified its roots into black metal. The best way to describe Ezkathon's sound is that it can be described as "atmospheric black metal" although the tag "post-black metal" can also be attached to it. So far Ezkathon has released a three track Demo and a one track Demo late December of last year. Carrying a very DIY spirit behind this project (basically he does everything here) Mads has put his heart into this project catching my attention with his own interpretation of atmospheric black metal. I'm basically a sucker for anything that comes from Northern Europe, these guys up there really have a knack when it comes to heavy music. It's hard for me to explain, it's basically very special.

In Ezkathon's case, in this three chapter Demo, i really enjoy the sorrowful atmosphere attached to its sound, like we can hear on "Chapter I: Collapse... By The Divide of The Great Devourering Deep". It's a very dramatic track almost depressive, dragging us at a slow pace to the middle of nowhere, leaving us in perfect solitude but it only takes a few minutes before the harsh voice interrupts this feeling, and raises one hell of a blizzard around us. In "Chapter II: The Heavens" we get straight to the point, from the beginning to the end we get sharp slivers of black metal. Sound-wise the whole Demo reminds me of Altar Of Plagues' "Tides", the whole mix sounds really harsh and roughly trimmed as the voice seems to be on another level, like a haunting presence floating around the whole set. Overall, no matter the method, the result is accomplished. The Demo closes with "Chapter III: Finality... Voices Of A Colossal Sleep", a 12 minute long track that basically follows the steps of the previous ones: cold grim screams are thrown in the middle of a blast-beats and tremolo picking guitars storm before closing in a very atmospheric, melodic way. The only negative aspect i can point here is the fact that at some points, the songs seem to disperse a bit and may sound a little bit repetitive. They needed some high moments where Ezkathon could introduce something totally unexpected to the listener in order to caught our attention.

But in overall and not belittling the work of the artist, I think Ezkathon did a fine job here, being such a young project of course there are some edges to be trimmed, but with time I believe the quality of this project only will tend to improve.
A good and original interpretation of atmospheric black metal coming out of Denmark that gets the Haxan's seal of approval. Stay tuned for future Ezkathon releases here. Recommended for fans of the most atmospheric faction of black metal like Ayr, Ash Borer, Ajuna, Barrowlands, etc.

quinta-feira, 21 de fevereiro de 2013

One of my latest discoveries that turned out quite addictive, was this release from Lusitania, a black metal band shrouded in mystery. The few info I've read about them is that they come from Tempe, Arizona. This release, "Third Cassette" consists of seven movements, simply entitled from "I" to "VII", where the band presents us a stripped and raw black metal sound with heavy walls of guitar distortion swirling around rough drum blasts layered with harsh vocal shrieks. In "Third Cassette", the tracks are quite consistent and interesting, and every track is more powerful and haunting than the previous one.

I'm also a little bit intrigued by the name of the band, Lusitania. Only because it's somehow related to me and where i'm from: Portugal. Lusitania was an ancient Roman province including approximately all of modern Portugal and part of modern Spain. It was named after the Lusitani or Lusitanian people (an Indo-European people). Romans first came to the territory around the mid 2nd century BC and war with Lusitanian tribes followed, from 155 to 139 BC. In 27 BC, the province was created. So i would not be surprised if there's some Lusitanian blood among the band members. Ok, so after this little History lesson, Lusitania‘s "Third Cassette" is available from Holy Page in both digital format and searing orange cassette tape (almost sold out). Very good release.

quinta-feira, 14 de fevereiro de 2013

Tsarweather are a relatively young german band introducing with their first Demo two great samples of dark, crusty, violent and extremely well-played, hardcore. Delivering two short - but powerful - rounds with the tracks "Arms" and "Quartered", Tsarweather are another great example coming out of the extreme european hardcore scene. If you're into bands like Hammers, Perth Express and Alpinist then you really must not let this band pass you by. Fast, dirty and aggressive - just the way we like it. The tracks are available at Tsarweather's Bandcamp and luckily there's also a physical copy of it, i believe, still available and i gotta tell you it looks really cool. Know more by checking their Facebook page. A great Demo by a very promising band, i really loved the sound of them. Don't sleep on this one.

quinta-feira, 7 de fevereiro de 2013

Another of those Tagobella releases that caught my eye was Doth's "Datura wrightii". Containing two tracks only, they were enough for me to fall into it. The initial moments of the self titled track "Datura wrightii" and the voice of Rachel Heath, almost remind me of the band False, but i think Rachel's voice is way more sick. Besides that black metal rampage and crispy vocals, Doth also bring some innovation into their sound by introducing a cello and a trumpet. The second track "Schist Crevic" is a weird atmospheric track as if someone forgot to stop the recording machine and it recorded the weird sounds in this old cabin in the woods where this Demo was recorded... at least that's what like to imagine it. Doth's sound really promising and i would love to hear more stuff from them. Keep an open mind and check them below. Great stuff.

Fanapth are a raw/noise black metal band from Arizona. That's basically all i know from this band. Can't remember exactly how i discovered this... it doesn't matter how. Fanapth play this abrasive, raw and noisy black metal and the result is this thick wall of distortion where we can hardly hear the drum kit or even the voice (if there's any voice underneath that blanket of distortion). To describe Fanapth's sound, think of it as mix between Fell Voices and Sutekh Hexen. This "Untitled (MMXII)" was released as a tape (long sold out) by the hand of Tagobella. Lovers of the most raw, stripped down, minimalist and noisy black metal, step forward. This one is for you.

terça-feira, 5 de fevereiro de 2013

"Summoning Black Gods" is the debut full-length of Germany's Chapel Of Disease who are willing to reanimate this old corpse of OSDM by any means. And with this album they did it rather well, by creating an energetic and extremely captivating album. "Summoning Black Gods" has that old school stench everywhere, from the sound of it, to the whole construction of the tracks, the riffs, the guitar solos, the voice, the artwork, everything. Although many people out there don't give a shit about this kind of sound anymore, i personally love it. It feels almost as entering a time capsule and travel back to my high school years. Although Chapel Of Disease are a contemporary death-metal band (they were formed back in 2008) they are these modern times revivalists, who bet on bringing back that old school sound many metal heads, like me, still love.

The formula used here, to be honest, isn't new, but Chapel Of Disease give their own sick twist to it by introducing great catchy death-metal riffs and one very visceral voice. Tracks like the opening "Summoning Black Gods", "Evocation of the Father" and "The Nameless City" are perfect hymns for this new wave of the genre that could've been easily made 20 years ago. "Summoning Black Gods" is a vibrant and effective album that i'm sure it will please 30 and older old school death metal fans like me. Fans of early Asphyx, Death, Morgoth or even Sepultura take notice. Buy the vinyl here.